140 lojda, klimburg-salter and strinu
compare e.g. the dhotīs. There are numerous other cultural features in Tabo
monastery suggesting links to Central Asia, and both Tabo and Dunhuang were
part of the same nexus of transnational trade routes linking China/Central
Asia with India. On the other hand there is no evidence to indicate that the
Keru sculptures served as agents of cultural transfer. Moreover, the style of
the Keru sculptures, to the degree that it can be determined today, has dis-
tinctive characteristics suggesting both possible connections to Central Asia
as well as a local stylistic idiom.
Another local variation of this early Tibetan style can be found in a rectan-
gular banner stored in the Yarlung Museum in Tsethang (fig. 4.9).
This banner, also depicting a standing bodhisattva, resembles in terms of
style and certain genre elements, like the single lotus or the form of its jewel-
lery, the Dunhuang banners, and should be considered to belong to the Tibetan
Himalayan Style. Also, the kneeling donors are clearly depicted in the Western
Tibetan mode and close to the tenth century style of Tabo. However, the crown,
with its tall triangular shape, is typical for Central Asian painting and indicates
a connection to Central Asia.36 The banner was attributed on stylistic grounds
to the eleventh century.37 However, an inscription on its back, which contains
consecration formulas in Sanskrit verses written in Tibetan cursive script, pro-
vides a link to similar inscriptions in the Tabo assembly hall, as well as other
similar inscriptions on the back of a few very early thangkas.38 Thus an attribu-
tion to the early eleventh century would be more precise. The provenance of
this banner is uncertain. Recently assigned to Keru,39 this association had not
yet been claimed in 2000 when Klimburg-Salter documented the painting and
discussed its history with Museum officials.
Although we have no direct evidence, Central Tibet could still have served
as a mediator in the process of cultural transfer from Central Asia to Western
Tibet, given that the West Tibetan kings of Purang Guge descended from the
ancient Imperial line, and that they and the noble families who were associ-
ated with them originated in Central Tibet. It is possible that members of the
Dro clan were initiators in the creation of the West Tibetan kingdom, where
36 For examples see Klimburg-Salter, The Silk Route and the Diamond Path, 141, pl. 67 and 143,
pl. 66.
37 Kulturstiftung Ruhr Essen ed., Tibet: Klöster öffnen ihre Schatzkammern (München:
Hirmer, 2006), 247.
38 Documentation Klimburg-Salter 2000 in WHAV KS00 13,23–13,40 and 15,5–15,30; Klimburg-
Salter, Tabo: A Lamp for the Kingdom, 111.
39 Kulturstiftung Ruhr Essen ed., Tibet: Klöster öffnen ihre Schatzkammern, 245.